Tara Eberlin-Pohlman and Dominick Harris plant a plum tree at a home in Northeast Portland where the tree equity score is 83. More affluent neighborhoods have tree equity scores of 100, while lower income neighborhoods can be as low as 52.A group aiming to battle food waste planted 162 fruit trees in low-income Portland neighborhoods last year — and they’re hoping their efforts are fruitful in more ways than one.
“While we’re making all of these trees great in the areas that people have them, let’s also figure out who doesn’t have them,” Keisler Fornes said. In Irvington, an affluent northeast Portland neighborhood, hundred-year-old trees tower over parks and throughout idyllic neighborhoods with wide, calm streets and greenways. In these areas, the tree equity score is often 100 or close to it.In neighborhoods like Centennial, on Portland’s eastern border, the trees are sparser and old growth has been removed. It’s less common to see pedestrian- and bike-centric infrastructure, and many streets don’t have sidewalks at all.
Portland Fruit Tree staff members look at their mobile fruit tree index which plots location, health, and productivity of local fruit trees.Angelica Cortes shows a text from a community member who received a plum tree from the Portland Fruit Tree Project.“People will talk about fruit trees are small,” said Keisler Fornes. “Some of us who live out in these low-canopy neighborhoods don’t want to plant a bunch of large farm trees. ...